Syrian government forces use tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery against Free Syrian army 2507122

Posted On
Wednesday, 25 July 2012 03:20

a

Conflict in the World - Syria

Wednesday,
July 25, 2012, 09:08 AM

Syrian
government forces use tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery against Free
Syrian army.

President
Bashar al-Assad's forces have launched massive counter assaults in Damascus
and Aleppo. They appear to have beaten rebels back from neighborhoods
in the capital and are turning towards Aleppo, a commercial hub in the
north.

Syrian rebels fighters at a checkpoint in the northern city of Aleppo
on July 24, 2012.

Syrian forces fired
artillery and rocket barrages early on Wednesday, July 25, 2012, at
the northern Damascus suburb of al-Tel in an attempt to seize the town
from rebels, causing mass panic and forcing hundreds of families to
flee the area, residents and opposition activists said.

The 216th mechanized
battalion headquartered near Tel started bombarding the town of about
100,000 people at 3:15 a.m. (0015 GMT) and initial reports indicated
residential apartment blocks were being hit, they said.

"Military helicopters
are flying now over the town. People were awakened by the sound of explosions
and are running away," Rafe Alam, one of the activists, said by
phone from a hill overlooking Tel. "Electricity and telephones
have been cut off."

Opposition activists
said thousands of troops had withdrawn with their tanks and armored
vehicles from the strategic Jabal al-Zawiya highlands in Idlib province
near the Turkish border and were headed towards Aleppo.

Rebels attacked
the rear of the troops withdrawing from the region at the villages of
Orom al-Joz and rami near the main Aleppo-Latakia road and at the village
of al-Bara west of the Aleppo-Damascus highway, activist Abdelrahman
Bakran said from the area.

In Aleppo, helicopters
swirled overhead firing missiles throughout Tuesday, residents said.
Rebels were battling government forces by the gates of the historic
old city. Troops fired mortars and shells at rebels armed with rifles
and machineguns.